As the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission was preparing to announce that dam repairs were completed on one high-hazard dam in Central Pennsylvania, Hurricane Sandy forced an announcement of a very different sort for another dam in the region.

View full sizePA FISH & BOAT COMMISSIONThe old spillway at Opossum Lake in Cumberland County is removed to make way for a new, larger device and an upgraded dam.

The spillway of the dam has been rebuilt at Opossum Lake, a 59-acre lake near Carlisle that was drained in 2008, and the refilling process has begun, according to the commission, which expects the lake to be ready for stocking with trout in time for the first day of the trout fishing season on Saturday, March 30, 2013.

However, work won’t begin on the spillway at Speedwell Forge Lake in northern Lancaster County until next year and as rains driven by Sandy were refilling the drained lake Monday night the commission issued an evacuation order for about 80 homes downstream.

The threat of a flood from the dam had passed and the evacuation order was lifted Wednesday morning, allowing the 200 or so residents to return to their homes.
The dams at Speedwell Forge and Opossum lakes are two of 775 dams across Pennsylvania classified as high-hazard by the National Dam Safety Program.

The commission manages 38 of the high-hazard dams, for which it has been seeking alternative sources of funding to make the estimated $125.5 million in repairs.

Earlier this year, Rep. Joe Pitts announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will contribute more than $900,000 to cover 75 percent of the repairs to the Speedwell Forge dam spillway damaged in 2011 by the heavy rains of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

Also, according to the commission, $6.4 million had been released by the Governor’s Budget Office for work on Speedwell Forge. Design for the dam upgrades and the permitting process were under way for construction to begin next year.
At both lakes, the commission drew down the water levels and salvaged fish, last year at Speedwell Forge and in 2008 at Opossum Lake.

Deficiencies at the latter’s spillway were first detected in September 2005, which resulted in the lake being lowered by 14 feet. Then, in 2008, the commission determined that the lake would have to be fully drained and the spillway completely rebuilt.

However, from the first lowering in 2005, the Friends of Opossum Lake had been working with the commission, Lower Frankford Township and Cumberland County to secure funding for the project. The township contributed $100,000, the county provided $609,000 from its allocation of state Growing Greener funds, the commission contributed $775,000 and private citizens donated funds. The total project cost about $3.38 million, of which Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland) secured the release of $1.5 million from the state’s capital budget.

According to the commission, the process of refilling a lake involves continuous monitoring and takes five to seven months to complete, depending on precipitation. The earthen dam needs time to properly and safely absorb the water.

Commission engineers plan to raise the water level two feet per week and to inspect and monitor the dam until the lake is completely filled.

The commission’s remaining high-hazard dams still in need of repairs totaling more than $100 million has been one of the focal points of commission Executive Director John Arway in his quest for alternative sources of funding since taking on the job in 2010.